How traffic citations are given and delivered

(a) There shall be provided for use by authorized police officers, or designees of the county chiefs of police, a form of summons or citation for use in citing violators of those traffic laws that do not mandate the physical arrest of violators. The form and content of the summons or citation shall be as adopted or prescribed by the administrative judge of the district courts and shall be printed on a form commensurate with the form of other summonses or citations used in modern methods of arrest, so designed to include all necessary information to make the same valid within the laws and regulations of the State. (b) In every case when a citation is issued, the original of the citation shall be given to the violator; provided that: (1) In the case of an unattended vehicle, the original of the citation shall be affixed to the vehicle as provided for in section 291C-167; or (2) In the case of: (A) A vehicle utilizing the high occupancy vehicle lane illegally; or (B) A vehicle illegally utilizing a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities, where the violator refuses the citation, the original of the citation shall be sent by certified or registered mail, with a return receipt that is postmarked within forty-eight hours of the time of the incident, as provided in section 291C-223 for vehicles illegally utilizing the high occupancy vehicle lane, or within seventy-two hours of the time of the incident for vehicles illegally utilizing a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities, to the registered owner of the vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division. If the end of the applicable forty-eight or seventy-two hour period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday; provided that the administrative judge of the district courts may allow a carbon copy of the citation to be given to the violator or affixed to the vehicle and provide for the disposition of the original and any other copies of the citation. (c) In the case of a motor vehicle determined by means of a photo red light imaging detector system established pursuant to chapter 291J to have disregarded a steady red signal in violation of section 291C-32(c); the original of the citation shall be sent by first-class mail within ten calendar days from the time of the incident for motor vehicles disregarding a steady red light signal in violation of section 291C-32(c), as determined by means of a photo red light imaging system, to the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division. If the end of the applicable ten-calendar-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. (d) In the case of a motor vehicle determined by means of a speed enforcement system established pursuant to chapter 291L to have exceeded a maximum speed limit in violation of section 291C-108, the original of the citation shall be sent by first-class mail within ten calendar days from the time of the incident, to the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division. If the end of the applicable ten-calendar-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. (e) Every citation shall be consecutively numbered and each carbon copy shall bear the number of its respective original.